The site plan for the alternate Chargers stadium idea would include a park area inclined to the east high enough to bridge over the trolley tracks. Two historic buildings would be reconstruction or relocated to the east.

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The site plan for the alternate Chargers stadium idea would include a park area inclined to the east high enough to bridge over the trolley tracks. Two historic buildings would be reconstruction or relocated to the east.

The proposed downtown Chargers stadium, debated endlessly by fans and critics, hasn't been formally proposed, much less financed.

But that hasn't kept two Australian architects, specialists in hotel, office and residential projects, from independently coming up with their own idea that's just going public.

"We feel we have an idea that will inspire San Diego to embrace a stadium downtown," said Pauly De Bartolo, 33.

He and his business partner, Ivan Rimanic, 43, have designed a circular-shaped stadium inspired by the Chargers bolt logo and located on the same site as the team's proposal -- the city bus yard at 14th and K streets.

But their proposal also includes a roughly 7.5-acre park/amphitheater that would rise above the San Diego Trolley tracks and act as an outdoor venue for conventions and other events.

They say a retractable roof, as the Chargers have suggested to handle convention events on the field, is too expensive and the money would be better spent as needed on temporary structures at the park.

Mark Fabiani, counsel to the Chargers on the stadium project, said he was not familiar with the Aussies.

"But of course we'd be excited to take a look at any and all new ideas," he said.

The partners originally came San Diego in 2005 to work on Embassy 1414, a 28-story residential tower in Little Italy proposed by Australia-based Constellation Group.

After the economy scuttled the plans, the two partners remained in San Diego, married locals and began designing hotels, office buildings and private residences. Their firm is De Bartolo + Rimanic Design Studio or DBRDS.

Their current portfolio includes a 160-room hotel in Indian Wells and a home for Rob Watson, developer of several local hotels, as well international projects in Australia and China.

They took on the stadium on their own without any financial backing or public impetus, other than their own interest in advancing the potential for a stadium.

They work in the offices of David McCullough, a landscape architect involved in the Orchids & Onions program put on by the San Diego Architectural Foundation to praise good designs and critique bad ones.

McCullough, who is collaborating on the land plan for the project, said he encouraged De Bartolo and Rimanic to go public and share their plans with the Chargers, downtown planning groups and other interests.

"We say to the Chargers, this is your opportunity (to get a stadium), and it is our opportunity to get a public-private partnership (to get a park)," McCullough said.

De Bartolo said his plan does what the Chargers doesn't -- link downtown parks and open spaces in a network in the same way Chicago's Millennium Park links to that city's waterfront park spaces.

De Bartolo said among the shortcomings in the Chargers' plan is a stadium "squashed" onto a narrow site. Their plan would provide room for pedestrian circulation around the stadium and through the proposed park and amphitheater.

The DBRDS design resembles a metal volcano, 800 feet in diameter, with the top edge finished out as edges of Chargers bolts. It would hold about 75,000 spectators and several thousand parking spaces. Also included are levels of corporate suites. (See details at the firm's website, dbrds.com.)

Surrounding it are about 12 acres of green and pedestrian space, including the amphitheater area with a capacity of 10,000.

The team's blue and gold colors also are incorporated into the design. There is even space for a small tailgate-park area.

The partners have not gone beyond design. They don't know whether their plan would cost more or less than the $950 million figure the Chargers have broached ($800 million for the stadium, $150 million for site work).

But they hope their proposal will push the debate beyond Chargers-no Chargers and onto the bigger subject of what such a megaproject could do for the public in general.

"We want the city to have the best downtown in the whole U.S.," De Bartolo said. "Sydney is a great city, but this city has real great potential."

Some downtown planners have spoken of developing a sports and entertainment district, modeled after LA Live in Los Angeles.

But De Bartolo said San Diego's weather argues instead for outdoor spaces, not more indoor venues for events.